Grantaire laughs aloud. If he had intended to provoke, rather than support, he could not have done it better.

"Why not?"

Anyone, after all, can speak of principles. Worse men than Grantaire -- and those are hard to come by, after all! -- do the same every day. Who minds what's in their hearts, so long as there's fire in their mouths? Not Enjolras, apparently. If you're willing to turn to a Marius, you ought to take a Grantaire; who might be a mockery, but who knows it, at least.